Sanitary heating pack



June 21, 1921. 1,633,482 P. R. GALT SANITARY HEATING PACK Filed Feb. 5. 1926 IN VEN T012 Farce J2. Gulf Patented June 21, 1927.

UNITED STATES PIERCE R. GALT, or PHILADELPHIA; PENNSYLVANIA.

SANITARY HEATING PACKQ.

Application filed February 3,1926. Serial 110,235,717.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a sanitary heating vpack, and has for its primary object the improvement of the structure whereby it is adapted to snugly fit different portions of the human body so that a greater surface of the pack maybe brought into contact with the portion of the body to be treated. 1

Another object of the invention is the pro 1 vision of a unique stopper or closure pro"- vided with means for holding the closure in place, the parts being so constructed; that when the holding means or latch is given a rotary movement incident to the fastening operation, the stopper or closure will remain stationary, thereby eliminating any chance of the seal being broken. i

A further object of the invention is to provide a latch for the closure of theheating pack fashioned from springmetal having notches at the ends extending inwardly from opposite edges, and having finger pieces disposed above the notched ends whereby the latch may be manipulated without interference from the latch pins A still further object of the invention is to construct a sanitary heating pack including a casing having convex edges and concave sides, the top edge having. an opening leading to the interior of the casing and surrounded by a seat of two diameters'into which is inserted the closure or stopper having a metal shank and head, a portion of said shank beingsurrounded by a compressible packing and said'head being'convex so that the latch carried by the closure will have a very small bearing on said head and latch pins carried by the casing for registration with notches or slots in the ends of the latch. I

Vith these ends in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims. v

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction in detaiLreferring y numerals to the v accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig.1, is a plan-or top edge view of asanitaryheating pack embodying my invention. Fig. 2, isa side elevation thereof with a portion broken out thus indicating? that the 1 casingmay' be of any desirableleng-th.

3, is an inner face view of the latch and stopper associated therewith, removed from thecasing.

Fig. 4, is a fragmentary sectional view of the casing in theregion of the closure .seat and said seatwith the closure or stopper therein, and the latch shown as unfastened, said closure and latch being leftv in elevation.

Fig, 5, is an outer face vew of the latch andstopper.

Fig. .6, is aside elevation of the metal portion of the closure or stopper before being fastened tothe latch.

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied, 5 represents the casing of my improved sanitary heating pack which is produced from any suitable metal in any well known or approved manner, and preferably of'recta'n'gular shape and relatively thin so as to provide afiat structure having concave side walls 6 and convex edges 7. By constructing the casing in this form, it is adapted to" fit snugly against any part of the usersbody in such away that a large surface thereof will contactwith the body.

In the top edge of the casing is formed an opening 8, communicating with the interior ofthe casing, and surrounding this openii'ig is a closure seat 9'which may be drawn from the metal of the casing, or it may be produced as a separate element and fixedto the casing about the opening 8. This closure seat includes a tubular body 10 from which projects a tubular neck 11 of smaller diameter'th'an the body thereby forming a shouldei 12, and it is to be understood that this closureseat-is open at both ends. j The numeral 14 designates the metal portion ofthe stopper or closure and comprises a shank 15 of slightlysmaller diameter than the tubular neck 11' ofthe closure seat and is of suflicient length to project well into or beyond the inner end ofv the neck 11,-as shown in Fig. 4, and at the upper end of the shank is a head .16 having a con'veX upper or outer facel17 fron the center of which" projects a stud 18. The stud passes thru the latch 19 and has a cross pin 20 extending therethru with the endsprojecting,normally to hold the latchon the stopper, but said projecting ends may be caused to; register with the recesses 20 in; the reinforced central portion 19 of the latch and said-reinforced. pfortioncan be produced by mounting alse'ction of; metalonflthe,latch., I I

heupperpbn ion of the shank 15 issuirounded by a suitable stopper or packing 21 of compressible material, and is adapted to enter the body portion 10 of the closure seat with the lower edge of said packing resting on the shoulder 12.

The latch 19 is formed from a strip of suitable spring metal fashioned to provide the oppositely projecting arms 22,-'each of which has a notch or open end slot 23 formed therein adjacent the outer ends of said arms and said slots project inwardly from opposite edges of the arms. The ends of the metal forming the arms is bent back upon itself inspaced relation to the arms, so as to form overhanging ling-er pieces 24 which are disposed above the outer ends of the arms, and more particularly in the region of the slots in order that the "latch'may be manipulated without the fingers of the operator interfering in any way, with the entrance ofcertain elements into said slots, The outer faces of the finger pieces 24;are corrugated, knurled, or otherwise roughened,

as at 25,'in order to guard against the 'possibihty ofthe operators' lingers slipping when actuating the latch.

The closure or stopper is placed in the seat with the cross pin in such a position that the ends thereof will not register with the recesses20 when the latch'is fastened, after which the ends of the latch are depressed, and said latch-then rotated until theslots 23 register with the headed pins 26 carried by the upper edge of the casing, one on each side of the opening leading to the interior of said casing;

The casing of the heating pack is filled with suitable chemicals or substances (not shown), and when the device is placed in water and boiled for a suitable length of time, the substances within the casing will generate sufficient heat to keep the pack hot for a number of hours, and when this action begins to lag so that the heat decreases,

the closure or stopper is momentarily re moved to permit ingress of air which, as

soon as said air contacts with the substances inthe casing, starts a further action and generates heat for another period of time, equal to a number of hours.

To remove the stopper for ingress of air to the casing, the latch 19 is rotated until the arms thereof are disengaged from the pins 26, and the recesses 20 caused to register with the ends ofthe cross pin 20, after which the latch may be lifted slightly so as to nonrotatably connect it to the stopper whereby it may be used to loosen the stopper from the seat preparatory to withdrawal of the latter, and after the ingress of air the closure or stopper is re-seated andthe latch rotated in the opposite direction until the reinforcedportion 19 of saidlatch rides under the cross pin 20 and the arms thereofengage r beneath the heads of the pins 26, with the roaaaea slots 23 registering with the bodies of said pins, and because of the convex upper or outer surface 17 of the head 16, the latch 19 will contact-witha; very small area of said head 16, and therefore said latch may be rotated without the possibility of rotating the stopper orclosureso that the seal made when the stopper is inserted will not be broken. Any particles of the filling of the pack which may have entered the closure seat upon withdrawalfof the closure will be displaced by the inner end of the shank 1'5, assaid closure is inserted:

As the fingers of the operator are placed the exact details of construction as herein shown as these may be varied within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully'described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is 1.'A sanitary heating pack including a casing provided with an opening communieating with the interior, a closure seat sur rounding said opening, a closure for coaction with said seat and including a convex head, a latch rotatably mounted on the convex head of said closure, and means carried by the casing for coaction with the latch to hold the closure within its seat.

2. The combinationwith a casing having an inlet opening and provided witha closure seat surrounding said opening,of a closure lncludmg a shank, a head'havmg a convex outer face and a stud, a stopper surrounding a portion of the shank, a bowed spring latch rotatably mounted on the stud, and means carried by the casing for co-action with the latch to retain the closure within its seat.

'3. The structure set forth in claim 2 wherein finger pieces are provided at the ends of the latch and overlie said latch in spaced relation and have their outer surfaces roughened.

4i. sanltary heating pack including a casing provlded Wltllflll opening, a tubular seat surrounding said opening andhaving portions of different diameters to provide a shoulder, a metal closure element including a shank, a head witha convex surface and a stud, a compressible stopper element surrounding aportion of the shank and adapted to fit within'the portion of the seat of larger diameter and engage the shoulder, a bowed latch of spring metal rotatably mounted upon the closure element, said latch coacti'ng' with a very small part of the convex portion of thehead so as to rotate freely when under tension, said latch havingfoppositely projecting notches at opposite ends thereof, headed pins on the casing for registration with the notches in the latch, whereby said latch will hold the closure in place, and finger pieces carried by the ends of the latch and overlying the slots therein.

5. A sanitary heating pack including a casing having an opening therein, a closure seat'surrounding said opening, a closure for insertion in said seat, headed pins on the cas ing and a latch so connected with theiclosure as to rotate thereon without rotating said closure after being seated, and said latch coacting with the headed pins on the casing to prevent accidental withdrawal of the closure.

6. A sanitary heating pack comprising a casing having an inlet opening,'a seat surrounding said opening, pins on the casing at opposite sides of the opening, a stopper 1nsertible in said seat and having a convex outer surface, a stud projecting from the stopper, a latch 'journalled on said stud and riding on the convex surface and having slots to register with the pins on the casing, and further having a central reinforced portion provided with recesses and across pin in the stud to retain the latch on the stopper and register with the recesses to temporarily fix the latch to the stopper.

7. A sanitary heating pack including a casing, a closure seat depending from an end Wall of the casing and surrounding an opening through said end wall, said closure seat being plain on the inside and decreasing in size toward its inner end, a closure for coaction with the seat, a'spring latch carried by the closure and means on the casing with which the latch coacts so as to provide the spring pressure upon said closure.

' In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature.

' PERCE R. GALT. 

